Last year, I added something new to my a la carte options for wedding packages: an anniversary session! I am so excited about the opportunity it gives me to catch up with my couples and hear how the first year of married life went (hint: there’s usually a lot of compromise, but so much fun being newlywed!).

One of my first couples to choose this option was Josh & Amy, whose wedding took place in Martinsburg, West Virginia the day Hurricane Joaquin hit the East Coast. Thankfully, while it was overcast and freezing, but their wedding was able to proceed as planned!

Josh & Amy’s anniversary session took place on a chilly November morning in Warrenton, Virginia. We started at Whitney State Forest, and enjoyed the last gasp of fall leaves. Books were part of their engagement session, and are an important part of their relationship, so it was fun to take a few more photos of them just relaxing and reading some favorites together.

They also brought Nerf Guns to their engagement session, so I got a new shot of Josh & Amy ready to playfully face off in a fierce battle.

After we finished at the park, we left for downtown Warrenton, a quaint and picturesque American city. It was my first time in Warrenton, and I can’t wait to go back!!

Congratulations again, Josh & Amy — I have loved working together to capture your story these last couple of year

I was thrilled when my friend and talented colleague Anna Bolling hired me to take photos of her client, Virginia McCabe, owner of HouseDressing in Bedford, Virginia.

“Gin” is a kindred spirit — an artist, daughter of an artist, and a Virginia native, she is full of vivacity and charisma. My visit to her studio felt like visiting an old friend, even though we just met!

Her business is really fun, too: she works with clients in a variety of ways, from interior design and color consultations, to helping baby boomers as they downsize from a home to a retirement community.

For our session, we were going for a natural, relaxed feel, capturing images of her in her workspace that she can use across her social media and web presence.

Gin’s elegant taste that mixes classic, refined lines and textures with pops of color and modern patterns. The spaces she designs are simply beautiful!

It’s been too quiet over here! I’m working on rebranding lately, and I’m really excited to share that process (and of course, the results!!) here over the next few months. I’m committing to regular blogging again, even if it’s just a quick hello, or a photo.

This is one of my favorite photos from a fall engagement session in DC awhile ago. Between my studio and my work at Sweet Briar, I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to the DC area several times in the last couple of years and I love finding new backdrops, especially since the monuments change so much throughout the day. We used very early morning light on a Sunday, which meant the bustling city was unusually quiet for most of our session; we got to wander around the Tidal Basin and have our pick of locations!

We welcomed a darling little boy in February, which means he’s already four months old, ready to grab the keys to the car. Or at least chubby & giggling & figuring out how to reach his feet:

We’ve been watching our sweet girl gain independence and a whole new vocabulary. We also moved to a new (bigger!) studio space:

We’ve photographed the looks at VITA, a grassroots fashion show here in the Burg:

It’s been a lovely, crazy spring full of blessings and business and woah-hardly-any-sleep. But we’re happy, watching so many dreams come true.

We’ll roll out some behind-the-scenes posts here shortly, and also link over to some of the weddings I’ve been shooting with Stone Blue Productions. But for now, a bit of a photography geek moment.

I met Steve McCurry at last weekend’s LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, VA, If you don’t recognize the name, you’ll recognize his work: his photograph of the Afghan Girl is the most recognizable National Geographic magazine cover of all time. He shared the images from the final roll of Kodachrome film, which Kodak sent to him (you can read the story here).

Steve McCurry and I. Yes, it's an iPhone/Instagram shot.

If you’re not familiar with him or his work, you may enjoy this interview. There’s so much that I love about this video–the idea of intuition and waiting for the “soul” of the photograph, the story of crossing into Pakistan, the bit about how travelling and learning how people live in other countries, staying grounded, etc.

And finally, those of you who know me know that part of my heart will always be in Havana, Cuba. I’ve been there twice, and hope to go again (and again, and again). I came across these lovely photos on Steve McCurry’s blog, and it made me nostalgic for La Habana, the strong, beautiful people, the warm breezes and chatter of Spanish, and the food, oh the food.

It’s been quiet around here—we enjoyed a couple of months of cuddling our sweet new baby BOY (yep!). Pics to come…but for tonight, a quick update.

We just wrapped a twelve hour day, shooting behind the scenes at VITA Fashion Show in Lynchburg. So tired…but what an amazing day! Yes, it was a bit crazy to have TODAY be our return from maternity leave, but we just had the most amazing time getting behind-the-scenes and fashion shots for all of the awesome designers!!! What an impressive team of stylists, designers, models, and of course the team at Riverviews. What an unforgettable experience.

The party was still going when we left, but we’re happy to be home with our babies, pjs on and a late night snack before sweet, delicious, blessed sleep (two hours at a time anyway). But first: while there are many more images to come, we picked four random favorite images from the day and put them on our Facebook page. Please check them out, and stay tuned for more.

If you haven’t heard already, we’re winding down toward maternity leave. That’s right, our little monkey is about to be a big sister! A boy or girl (yep! we’re going to be surprised) is due to join us on or around February 11. We’re getting so excited! We’re accepting a limited number of portrait sessions in January, and are looking forward to our return again in the spring!

For Sofia’s second birthday, we brought her to the studio for a few portraits. Needless to say, she is the epitomy of two years old, and we spent most of our time chasing her around the backdrop as she cried, “I got you! I got you! I got me!”

While it was tiring for Adeel & I to try to capture her energy, I’m so glad we did. It’s been amazing to see how quickly she’s changed–it really does seem like yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital.